• The defamation lawsuit filed by Roy Moore against the women who accused him of misconduct has been paused by Circuit Judge Albert Johnson, that is until the defamation lawsuit against Roy Moore filed by Leigh Corfman, one of his accusers, is resolved.
• While Moore has said that he went to court to clear his name, he hasn’t succeeded yet. He stated, “Nothing that’s happened to me has been fair in court.”

4. Omar and Tlaib show why Israel banned them

• U.S. Representatives Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN) held a news conference where they spoke about being banned from traveling to Israel, a country that they attempted to start a boycott against, and they have now condemned Israel’s decision which garnered them a rebuke in the form of a condemnation by a member of the Alabama Republican Party State Executive Committee.
• During Omar’s statement, she referenced how the U.S. gives Israel $3 billion in aid every year, but their action of “denying a visit to duly elected members of Congress is not consistent with being an ally.” Omar went on to suggest that Israel is attempting to keep Omar and Tlaib from doing their jobs.

4. Elizabeth Warren and her “white privilege”

• First, there was a botched DNA rollout that showed 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) was 1/1024th Native American, now Warren has descended on a gathering of Native Americans to offer a half-hearted apology for lying about her ancestry for decades.

• There’s a no greater example of what Democrats and their media refer to as “cultural appropriation” as Warren’s use of another race to get ahead, yet anyone who mocks her for it is deemed “racist.”

3. Democrats and Doug Jones keep fighting

• The Alabama Democratic Party can’t stop their pointless war of words with the most successful Alabama Democrat of the last decade in the run-up to some inner-party battles and U.S. Senator Doug Jones’ (D-AL) unlikely reelection.
• Jones’ unsuccessful attempt to topple Chairwoman Nancy Worley and the leadership-chosen Alabama Democratic Conference has been called “racial” and brought a threat from the ADC, which warned Jones, “Don’t start what you can’t end.”

2. Impeach Trump fight gets more support

• Assistant House Speaker Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM) has announced his support of impeaching President Trump since “moving forward with an impeachment inquiry, which will continue to uncover the facts for the American people and hold this president accountable.”
• Lujan explained his reasoning for supporting impeachment, saying, “Numerous experts have warned that these attacks are ongoing to this day. And when faced with this evidence from his own government, President Trump has failed to act. Not only has he ignored the warnings that our Democracy is being targeted, but he has also actively encouraged Russian interference.”

1. Seriously, no tolls

• Lieutenant Governor Will Ainsworth, Congressman Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) and State Senate Pro Tem Del Marsh (R-Anniston) have joined the growing chorus of anti-toll advocates.
• Marsh has the most power here and said that he’s going to “explore all legislative options to ensure this project is fair and reasonable for the citizens of South Alabama – and a $6 toll is not fair or reasonable.” Currently, Governor Kay Ivey has a meeting planned for October 7 to discuss the toll bridge with the Alabama Toll Road, Bridge and Tunnel Authority.

• Greg Canfield, Alabama’s Commerce secretary, has said that while Alabama is doing well with economic development, it’s time to review our economic development plan and make changes to adjust for the growth we’ve seen.
• Canfield wants the new plan to be developed with distributive technologies and growth industries that weren’t targeted in the past, but since Accelerate Alabama was started in 2012, the state has seen 122,000 more jobs and $37 billion in capital investments.

5. A lot of kids are going unvaccinated in Alabama

• The Alabama Department of Public Health has released numbers that show more than 35,000 students across the state have expired “blue slips” for their vaccination records, while 6,758 had no records at all and 5,147 students have claimed medical exemption.
• Dr. Claudette Poole of UAB has said that schools have a responsibility to the public to ensure that vaccination records are up to date since schools are a place where diseases can easily spread.

4. Graham wants everyone to know what happened during the Russia investigation

• Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) warned that the report to be released by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz about what happened behind the scenes during the Russia investigation will be “ugly and damning.”
• Graham has explained that Horowitz is doing a “very in-depth dive” into the FBI’s use of FISA, and he’s said that he wants people to see how “off the rails” the investigation became. Former Trump campaign manager George Papadopoulos is eager to share his testimony of events.

3. Huntsville is leading part of the moon project

• It’s been announced that the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville will head up the Human Landing System Program when we return to the moon in 2024, but Texas is not very happy about this.
• U.S. Representative Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) spoke about the announcement, and said, “Marshall has unique capabilities and expertise not found at other NASA centers. I’m pleased NASA has chosen Marshall to spearhead a key component of America’s return to the moon and usher in the Artemis era.”

2. Tlaib and Omar could retaliate

• Democratic members of Congress are considering taking legislative action against Israel’s Ambassador to Washington Ron Dermer and the U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman for them banning U.S. Representatives Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN) from visiting Israel.
• Tlaib was allowed in to see her grandmother, even after being sponsored by anti-Semites, but declined and now the media and their Democrats, including presidential candidates, are going to punish the Middle East’s only Democracy, with some calling its president a racist.

1. Alabama is shattering employment records

• Labor Secretary Fitzgerald Washington announced that in July, Alabama set the record for the highest employment rate and the lowest unemployment rate.
• The unemployment rate in Alabama for July was only 3.3% and there are 2.17 million people employed in the state, which means there are about 57,000 more people employees in July 2019 than there were in July 2018.

Jackson and Burke are joined by U.S. Representative Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) to discuss gun control, tolls, debt and the potential recession.

Jackson closes the show with a “parting shot” where he argues that American institutions should put Americans first.

Dale Jackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a talk show from 7-11 am weekdays on WVNN.

• After the poultry plants in Mississippi were raided, all five companies have been investigated further. Now, federal immigration officials have reason to believe that the companies knowingly hired illegal immigrants, according to videotaped statements of managers.
• Some of the illegal immigrants had Social Security numbers that belonged to the deceased, some wore ankle monitors because they were waiting for their deportation hearing, and some of the workers had been hired by the same manager but used a different name upon rehiring. Both Koch Foods and Peco Foods have a long history of hiring illegal immigrants.

5. New polls bring new wrinkles to 2020

• According to a new poll by Fox News, out of the Democratic candidates for the 2020 presidential election, former Vice President Joe Biden is still in first with 31%, which is the same rate he was polling at in March 2019, but U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has jumped to second place with 20%, which is a 16% increase since March.
• President Donald Trump’s poll numbers are sliding with a glut of bad news as the media and their Democrats attack. As of today, all four leading Democratic candidates are still shown as beating President Trump in 2020.

4. Omar and Tlaib barred from entering Israel; Trump supports Israel

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has barred U.S. Representatives Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN) from entering Israel. President Trump tweeted that Israel would “show great weakness” if they allowed Tlaib and Omar into the country, and he went on to tweet that Tlaib and Omar “are very anti-Jewish and they are very anti-Israel. I think it is disgraceful the things they’ve said.”
• Netanyahu, who recanted on Tlaib, has said that the congresswomen’s boycott of Israel was a leading reason in barring them from Israel. The prime minister has also said that the visit was planned with the objective “to strengthen the boycott against us and deny Israel’s legitimacy,” but of course, Omar has already said that Netanyahu is imposing a “Muslim ban” in Israel.

3. 15 states are fighting back against Alabama

• Fifteen states, including New York, California, Washington and Nevada, and cities like the District of Columbia, Seattle, Atlanta and others have decided to fight Alabama’s federal lawsuit against the U.S. Census Bureau to count only legal citizens in the 2020 Census.
• The group of states and cities have used the Constitution to strengthen their argument, and New York Attorney General Letitia James said, “The United States Constitution is crystal clear that every person residing in this country at the time of the decennial census – regardless of legal status – must be counted, and no matter what President Trump says, or Alabama does, that face will never change.”

2. Texas wants what Alabama has

• It’s expected that on Friday, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine is going to announce that the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama will head up the development of two of the three moon landers needed for the 2024 mission.
• However, Politico has reported that U.S. Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and John Cornyn (R-TX) and U.S. Representative Brian Babin (R-TX) have signed a letter written to Bridenstine requesting that he reconsider Texas for leading the moon lander development, arguing that it would be more “cost-efficient, streamlined, and effective approach” if they were developed where astronaut corps and mission control are based, as well as being the place with “the longest history and deepest institutional knowledge of human space exploration.”

1. Get ready for the gas tax

• On September 1, the six-cent increase on a gallon of gas will take effect, which will raise Alabama’s overall tax on one gallon of gas to 24 cents and 25 cents for diesel. Other increases will take place on October 1, 2020, when there will be a two-cent increase, and then another two cents on October 1, 2021.
• Meanwhile, the talk of tolls is almost all located in the southern part of the state, but if these plans for tolls move forward, there will be growing opposition, according to State Representative Andrew Sorrell (R-Muscle Shoals), who advised, “When they start tolling I-565, it is going to be an issue in our area,” adding, “It’s going to be an issue in North Alabama.”

• It was announced yesterday that the Sierra Nevada Corporation has selected the Alabama-based ULA as the launch vehicle provider for its Dream Chaser spacecraft’s six NASA missions to the International Space Station.
• The project will include the Decatur-built Vulcan Centaur rocket launching the Dream Chaser “spaceplane” that will bring cargo to the space station, operate as a space laboratory for 75 days, and then return to earth with “large quantities of critical science.”

5. People are really upset that Trump doesn’t want immigrants living off government assistance

• Two counties in California have decided to sue the Trump administration due to the new rule that immigrants may not be issued a green card if it’s proven that they would require government assistance, but the counties are claiming that the rule violates federal immigration law.
• San Francisco City attorney Dennis Herrera has said that the new immigration rule is the “latest effort by the Trump administration to target immigrants, including those who are lawfully seeking visas and green cards, is abhorrent, and we will do everything in our power to protect our residents’ ability to access the critical services and benefits we provide.”

4. Lots of blame to go around on guns

• A new poll shows that there is a growing majority of voters in the country that support more gun restrictions after the mass shootings in Dayton, Ohio and El Paso, Texas, but voters still support gun ownership.
• The poll conducted August 11-13 showed that 56% of people blame mass shootings on easy access to guns, 40% of people blame white nationalism, 39% blame inadequate parenting, 34% of respondents blame President Trump’s rhetoric, 33% believe Trump’s anti-immigration sentiment is the cause, but only 23% blame violent video games, while 15% blame sentiments from Democratic political leaders.

3. If you’re a citizen, participate in the census

• Governor Kay Ivey wants you to know how important it is to participate in the 2020 Census, and while speaking at the Cullman Regional Medical Center, she said, “If we turn out at the rate we did in 2000, we will lose two congressional seats.” But she added, “If we turn out the way we did in 2010, we will lose one.”
• Ivey wants to have at least 80% of people participate in the census, and U.S. Representative Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville) has stressed how important the census data is to determine the distribution of $1 trillion of federal funding that’s spent on “services and infrastructure such as hospitals, schools, senior centers, emergency services, bridges and other public works projects.”

2. Shootings are no joking matter

• A student at the Riverchase Career Connection Center in Hoover, Alabama, received a message from another student that said, “Tomorrow all chocolate kids will die.” An investigation into the matter began almost immediately to determine if the threat was credible.
• There were proper security measures in place on Wednesday when students were at school, but on Wednesday afternoon, the school announced that the investigation had been concluded. There was no credible threat, and this wasn’t a racially motivated situation, as superintendent Kathy Murphy said that both students were black. The student who sent the message has already come forward.

1. Market craters as recession fears grow

• An 800-point drop in the market was sparked by warnings from the Treasury bond market, which basically means it is harder for banks to make money and it usually signals a recession is in the making and a broader global slowdown.
• Wednesday’s 800-point drop was the fourth-largest point drop in market history and the roughly 3% drop places it in near the 300th-largest percentage drops of all-time. But for perspective, four of the other top five point drops occurred in 2018 and the market still hit an all-time high last month.

• President Donald Trump has decided to call off a series of tariffs on Chinese goods and cited the upcoming Christmas shopping holiday and the impact it could have on consumers as the reason. This is a departure from his normal refrain that Americans don’t pay for tariffs.
• The stock market really liked this decision. The tariffs were ready to go into effect on September 1, but cellphones, laptops, video game consoles, clothing, shoes and toys will not see the increase in tariffs until December 15 — that could obviously change.

5. We should talk about the rhetoric

• The Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking into “targeted attack” where an individual fired into an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and a contractors office. The agent in charge said, “Political rhetoric and misinformation that various politicians, media outlets and activist groups recklessly disseminate to the American people regarding the ICE mission only serve to further encourage these violent acts.”
• Last month, United States Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) referred, and defended referring, to facilities holding illegal immigrants as “concentration camps.” Since that time, at least four ICE facilities have come under attack from domestic terrorists.

4. Birmingham church opens its doors to illegal immigrants

• In Birmingham, a group of church members has decided to welcome in illegal immigrants due to the raids at the Mississippi food processing facilities, but they’re ignoring facts of the situation.
• The group, “Concerned Clergy, Faith Leaders, and Faith Communities of Birmingham,” released a statement saying that they would protect the illegal immigrants that came to their church for refuge, and while they want to protect and help the children whose parents were picked up during the raid, they missed the part where the parents who are the main caretaker of their children were released and the fact that the illegal immigrants arrested also committed crimes of identity theft and fraud.

3. Tennessee is following Alabama’s lead

• This week, Tennessee lawmakers will be considering a bill that will ban abortion at the earliest detection of pregnancy. It’s also hoped that this will go on to become a Supreme Court challenge.
• While it will be argued that the bill is unconstitutional, that’s kind of the point of the bill, as State Senator Kerry Roberts (R-TN) said that they want “a vehicle to lead the Supreme Court to consider, I hope, overturning or at least chipping away at Roe v. Wade.”

2. Never let a crisis go to waste

• On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced that he’s going to ask President Donald Trump to use the $5 billion in funds the president has requested for the border wall for gun control and fighting white supremacy. Schumer’s office has said that the money would be used for gun violence research by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, counter violent extremism programs at the Department of Homeland Security and domestic-terrorism investigations at the FBI.
• Schumer said in a statement that the “scourges of gun violence and violent white supremacist extremism in this country are a national security threat,” even though the number of deaths caused by white supremacists is dwarfed by the number of people killed by illegal aliens every year.

1. No surprise: people hate the toll

• A new poll conducted by WT&S Consulting shows that 77% of voters in Baldwin and Mobile county are against the toll plan for I-10 Mobile River Bridge and Bayway project.
• Dean Young, who paid for the poll to be conducted, said that the results send a clear message to Governor Kay Ivey to stop the toll from happening. The poll had 1,149 people opposing the toll and only 346 people in support of the toll.

• State Representative Steve Hurst (R-Munford) has been advocating for changing the school schedule in Alabama that would allow students to have summer vacation between Memorial Day and Labor Day, but after appearing on “The Dale Jackson Show,” it became very clear that Hurst doesn’t know if a longer summer vacation would actually improve education.
• Hurst’s main concern is students being able to get summer jobs and students getting skilled training that aren’t going to college, but during the interview, Hurst admitted, “I didn’t say it would get better, and you didn’t say it would get better, and the polls don’t say it’ll get better, what the polls say is it hasn’t improved.”

5. Roy Moore loves his social issues

• California wants to require at least one person “who self-identifies her gender as a woman” on the boards of companies located in their state. U.S. Senate candidate and former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore is having none of it.
• The governor of California, at the time, questioned the legality of the law, but he signed it anyway. Moore says this signals how out of touch California is, stating, “What else can you expect out of California? This will lead to all kinds of problems in an age where people are picking a different gender every other day. They are the model state of liberalism in America and we should not follow their lead.”

4. Steve Marshall is returning gambling money

• Bruce Pettway, the brother of Jefferson County sheriff, had his lawyers file a lawsuit in July against Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office claiming that Marshall’s office illegally seized $240,000 from a bank account due to $150,000 being deposited into the account from Pettway’s bingo operations.
• Now, Marshall has agreed to grant Pettway access to all but $15,500 of the funds that were seized, which was decided after Chief United States District Judge Karon Bowdre wrote that it was possible the state’s “actions against plaintiffs were politically or personally motivated, have been procedurally tainted, were all with intent to harass plaintiffs and were all in bad faith.”

3. People linked to Jeffrey Epstein should be worried

• While it appears it may in fact be suicide by his own hand, Epstein’s legal case may have legs that stretch further than most think. Attorney General William Barr made it clear that there were “serious irregularities” and announced, “Any co-conspirators should not rest easy.”
• Epstein’s “pedophile island” was raided, which signals ongoing investigations. This could mean there are asset forfeiture plans in place or even that there could be additional arrests.

2. Hit the brakes on I-10

• U.S. Representative Bradley Byrne (R-Fairhope) wants to see the I-10 Mobile River Bridge and Bayway project paused so that the people of Alabama can be heard. He added that he doesn’t think state officials have listened to the people and their concerns with the current plan.
• Despite the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) being willing to work with Byrne, he said that he’s been working with other state officials in an attempt to “fix” the project, however, Allison Gregg, ALDOT spokeswoman, previously sent an email saying that the “support of all elected leaders is vital” toward the Bridge and Bayway project being a reality.

1. Donald Trump getting tougher on immigration

• On Monday, the Trump administration announced that now federal officials will be able to deny green cards to immigrants that are more likely to rely on government assistance, which is meant to further ensure that more self-sufficient immigrants are granted residency.
• U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) acting Director Ken Cuccinelli told Fox News that this move “will also have the long-term benefit of protecting taxpayers by ensuring people who are immigrating to this country don’t become public burdens,” adding the new “public charge” will be defined as an immigrant who has received Supplemental Security Income, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, most forms of Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), for more than 12 months within a 36 month period.

• The federal government is granting Alabama $6.3 million to aid in fighting the opioid addiction epidemic; the money will help fund facilities and programs treating and preventing opioid addiction.
• According to federal health authorities, in 2017 there were 70,000 drug overdose deaths in the country, which is 21.7 per 100,000 people. But in some Alabama counties, there is an even higher rate, and the government has already established that the opioid issues in the country make for a crisis.

5. Tuberville says he’s not a politician … again

• During former football coach Tommy Tuberville’s visit in Vestavia where he spoke at the Mid-Alabama Republican Club meeting, he emphasized that he isn’t a politician and how little he thinks of his opponents that are “career politicians.”
• Tuberville said that when he goes to Washington, D.C., he’s going to vote for you and not for corporations, as well as stating that he thinks if you’re an outsider, you can’t get in because the political system is made for people that “take money from lobbyists and the establishment.” Tuberville went on to imply that most of his opponents are career politicians and they need to “go get a dang job” so that they know what’s happening in the country.

4. Phony Joe Biden has a rough weekend on the campaign trail

• The Democratic front-runner told supporters that he remembered being vice president when the mass shooting happened at Parkland High School and he spoke with the children from that school. Of course, this took place after he was out of office so he just made it up.
• This latest “gaffe” came on the heels of Biden saying that he believes “poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids.” He also told followers that “we choose truth over facts,” but his campaign said he misspoke on both occasions.

3. Survey says Alabamians want a longer summer

• You wouldn’t think that people would look at Alabama’s schools and clamor for less classroom instruction, but a recent poll says just that with over 80% of respondents wanting the school year to start after Labor Day and end before Memorial Day.
• The polling was done by the Alabama Association of Camps, a group with a big interest in longer summers. It is being used by State Representative Steve Hurst (R-Talladega) when talking about having fewer school days so kids could get jobs (so get that resume ready, third-graders).

2. AL.com says we are probably all racist

• John Archibald at AL.com wants you to understand that everyone is probably racist deep down, and it’s time for you to realize it and stop being so racist. But in his column, Archibald also asked what would happen if you looked deep into your own soul and considered if you’re racist, saying if you don’t self-evaluate it’s because you’re scared to “embrace your inner racist.”
• Archibald also said that he’s heard more “overt racism” more recently than in his entire life. To emphasize how shocking that is, he wanted everyone to also know that he grew up in Alabama, but according to Archibald, because we “don’t talk about race enough,” it’s causing more issues and there are more divisions between people. Apparently not talking about race leaves us all comfortable in our own racism.

1. The people you don’t like killed Jeffrey Epstein

• Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in his cell, and not long after, President Trump retweeted a conspiracy theory tweeted by Terrence K. Williams that said, “Died of SUICIDE on 24/7 SUICIDE WATCH? Yeah right! How does that happen #JefferyEpstein had information on Bill Clinton & now he’s dead.” Now, 2020 Democratic presidential candidates former U.S. Representative Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) and U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) are calling Trump out for his “dangerous” actions.
• People on the left have their own conspiracy theorists. MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough believes there may be a Russian plot at play and his colleague Joy Reid thinks Attorney General William Barr had a role in Epstein’s death.

Jackson and Burke are joined by State Representative Arnold Mooney (R-Indian Springs) to discuss his campaign and his back and forth with former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville over Tuberville’s comments about President Donald Trump and veterans’ suicide.

Jackson closes the show with a “parting shot” at a segment of society that is beginning to call everyone that disagrees with their politics of the moment a bunch of “racists.”

Dale Jackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a talk show from 7-11 am weekdays on WVNN.

• Former Vice President Joe Biden, a gaffe machine and the frontrunner for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 2020, visited Iowa Thursday and uncorked a serious of absurd statements and declared, “We choose truth over facts.” Of course, this will get almost no mainstream media attention because of how embarrassing it is.
• Biden made a series of racially insensitive comments at another, including, “Poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids,” and, “There’s less than 1% of the population of Iowa that is African American. There is probably less than 4 or 5% that are minorities. What is in [D.C.]? So look, it goes back to what you start off with, what you’re dealing with.”

5. ICE raids didn’t do very much in the end

• Several food processing plants in Mississippi were raided by ICE where 680 illegal immigrants were arrested, but now half of those arrested have been released. Thirty were released for “humanitarian” reasons and 270 others were released after being processed by ICE.
• ICE has said that they will be working on a case by case basis to decide who will be released, but ICE spokesman Bryan Cox said that the immigrants who were released “were placed into proceedings before the federal immigration courts and will have their day in court at a later date.”

4. You are likely a white supremacist

• According to U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), white supremacy is a virus in America that’s lying dormant, which was her view that she shared on Twitter. She also said that white supremacy drives the “logic of slavery, of Native genocide, of Jim Crow, of segregation, of mass incarceration, of ‘Send Her Back.’”
• AOC also shared her view that normal people also engage in or aid in “racism & white supremacy,” but all of this lunacy was in response to President Trump’s reaction to the El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, mass shootings and many Democrats demanding something be done about Trump’s rhetoric, since they believe it’s inciting violence.

3. Mooney says Tuberville is just helping the Democrats

• After former football coach Tommy Tuberville said that President Trump is responsible for the 22 veteran suicides every day and weakly backtracked, State Representative Arnold Mooney (R-Indian Springs) called him out and defended the president.
• Mooney while appearing on WVNN’s “The Jeff Poor Show” said that Tuberville’s comments only give Democrats more ammunition to use against Trump. He pointed out that Tuberville won’t even admit that he made a mistake about his remarks on Trump and veterans and that the issues with the VA existed long before Trump took office.

2. A gun was fired in a school drop-off line

• One parent pulled a gun on another after a road rage incident led to a confrontation at Blount Elementary School which led to a lockdown and criminal charges against Isaiah Johnson, Jr., a father at the school.
• Johnson fired his gun and then ran into the school and placed the gun on the desk in the school office, a school employee locked it in a safe and Johnson was arrested and charged with “certain person forbidden to carry a pistol” and discharging the firearm into a vehicle that was occupied.

1. Mitch McConnell is ready to move on guns

• In response to the most recent mass shootings, President Donald Trump has expressed that he might be open to expanded background checks on gun purchasers without laying out a clear plan. Now, Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) says he would at least be open to considering the idea.
• Democrats have already said that’s not enough and the National Rifle Association (NRA) is not happy about this either. The head of the NRA has suggested that the plan is not popular among Trump’s supporters.

• The Alabama Act 2019-507 has created new requirements for voters casting absentee ballots in Alabama. Secretary of State John Merrill has said that this will make it “easier to vote and harder to cheat!” which infuriates simpletons.
• In addition to making it easier to submit absentee ballots, election managers are no longer allowed to release voter information so that their privacy is protected and they’re less likely to be contacted by those intending to influence elections.

5. Alabama-based “J̶o̶u̶r̶n̶a̶l̶i̶s̶t̶” Twitter user goes hunting for big dollar Trump donors

• The Alabama Political Reporter’s Josh Moon wanted to copy the terrible decision by U.S. Representative Joaquin Castro (D-TX) to post the names and businesses of political enemies to make them afraid to donate money, but apparently, Moon couldn’t find any maxed-out donors.
• Moon’s embarrassing failure and cowardice is made worse by the fact that he didn’t have the stones to follow Castro’s terrible, and self-defeating, actions and instead weakly tweeted, “Trump’s top individual donor in Alabama is a retired lady in Vestavia. Only 4 people in the state have maxed out the individual contribution for the primary. A property mgr from Athens, a PowerSouth employee and a Citadel professor,” surely hoping someone else would complete the job he was afraid to do.

4. Bradley Byrne “doubles down” on your rights

• U.S. Representative Bradley Byrne (R-Fairhope) held a town hall meeting in Hoover, AL, where he said, “There are people in politics and government in America who do not believe in God. They’re actively passing bills that would take away your right and my right to freely exercise our religion.”
• Of course, AL.com’s Abbey Crain finds this all offensive and framed this all as Byrne doubled down on his belief in upholding the Second Amendment which is an insult to murdered people, but all Byrne was saying is that we need to deal with “the heart of the problem” and not just the “superficial thing,” adding that just taking people’s guns away isn’t the solution and violates the constitution.

3. ICE raids in Mississippi

• Several food processing plants in Mississippi were raided by U.S. immigration officials where 680 arrests were made. These 680 illegal immigrants took jobs from American citizens and suppressed wages.
• Workers who were able to confirm their legal status were released, but those who were illegal were taken to a military hangar to deal with immigration violations. The media used this as an opportunity to complain about the evilness of separating criminals and their children.

2. Alabama loves Trump

• A poll released by Morning Consult shows that Alabama has the highest approval rating for President Trump for three consecutive months at 61% of people in Alabama approving of Trump’s job performance and 35% disapproving.
• Since June, Trump’s approval rating in Alabama has increased 2%, but overall, Trump’s approval rating is actually down 10% since he was inaugurated in January of 2017. On the other end of the spectrum, Massachusetts, California and Vermont have the lowest net approval ratings for Trump

1. They all couldn’t stop for one day

• President Trump visited the victims of the Dayton shooting and afterward took to Twitter to criticize U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley for politicizing the visit and misrepresenting how Trump’s visits in the hospital went.
• Trump tweeted that the press conference Brown and Whaley held was “a fraud” and that it was actually a “warm & wonderful” visit, but despite how “warm” the visits may have been, when Trump arrived in Ohio, he was met with protesters that were demanding gun control legislation.

• Since U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) won reelection in 2016, his campaign account hasn’t raised any money from PACs or individuals, but Shelby isn’t concerned.
• Despite not having raised any money since his reelection, Shelby still has almost $10 million left in his campaign account from his previous election. Shelby has said that he doesn’t need any money and for now, he’s just enjoying his sixth term as senator.

4. Byrne backs Trump’s latest China move

• U.S. Representative Bradley Byrne (R-Fairhope) has praised the Trump administration for its decision declaring China a currency manipulator, saying, “President Trump has finally put his foot down and said enough is enough.” Byrne went on to say he will work with Trump to stand up for “American workers and hold China accountable or their rouge actions.”
• Even though this move contributed to a weakened market on the first day, China backtracked and set their yuen at less than a seven-to-one valuation, so this may have been a temporary symbolic shot at Trump for announcing new tariffs but a trade war continues.

4. Joaquin Castro should delete his Twitter account

• U.S. Representative Joaquin Castro (D-TX), the brother of 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Julian Castro and his campaign chairman, is in hot water with the Trump campaign after Joaquin publicly released the names and employers of Trump donors in Texas on Twitter.
• The Trump campaign has called this harassment and said that the Castro campaign is targeting Trump supporters and their employers. A Trump campaign official said that “in this political climate, particularly at a time when Democrats are associating rhetoric with violence, it’s a pretty disgusting thing to do.”

3. Birmingham church says black people who vote for Trump are mentally ill

• An attention-seeking church that previously put up a sign saying black worshippers needed to stay out of white churches is at it again with a sign that reads, “A black vote for Trump is mental illness.”
• Previous ploys for attention by New Era Baptist Church, led by Pastor Michael R. Jordan, have worked. This one will probably work as well because of the anti-Trump message.

2. Two Alabama billboards go up against Doug Jones

• Two billboards have gone up in Huntsville taking aim at U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) with one saying “DEMOCRAT DOUG JONES WILL DO ‘EVERYTHING HE CAN’ TO STOP TRUMP JUDGES’ and the other taking him to task for saying he will support whoever the Democratic nominee is. That billboard features fellow Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
• Meanwhile, Warren has decided to take advantage of the latest mass shootings and raise money for  Jones’ reelection campaign, which continues Jones’ trend of fundraising from out of state, but this one focuses on gun control.

1. As Trump tries to heal, the media and their Democrats keep up the attacks

• President Donald Trump is prepared to visit both sites of the most recent mass shootings in spite of the fact that local elected officials have demanded he not come, made it clear they will not go with him and in some cases have called for protests against him.
• While the media is calling the president a white supremacist, elected officials are preparing to offer more aggressive laws, and in some cases, likely unconstitutional “mandatory” gun buybacks and other bans.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities even recently wrote that Alabama’s per-student state funding for higher education in the decade following the Great Recession “fell by more than 30 percent.”

In the fall of 2009, the total full-time enrollment for Alabama’s four-year schools was 126,185. In fall of 2018, that number had risen to 145,883 — an increase of nearly 14%.

While funding has ticked back up gradually since the recession, with the main exception of FY 2013, funding per-student has still lagged, even in recent years. For example, from the 2014-2015 academic year to the 2017-2018 academic year, per-student funding dropped 2% when adjusting for inflation.

However, the story is not quite the same for the Alabama Community College System.

The total appropriation for the state’s two-year institutions was $416,931,242 in FY 2020. This represents a marginal 2% total drop in funding from FY 2008.

The community college system’s recent recovery in funding deviates from four-year institutions, too.

From FY 2011-FY 2020, two-year schools received a 27.37% increase in appropriations from the state while four-year institutions saw a lesser increase of 17.83% during that same time period.

What stands out most from the numbers, though, is the enrollment trend in Alabama’s community colleges. Every two-year institution in the state had less full-time students enrolled in the fall of 2018 than they did in the fall of 2010.

Across the board, the community college system’s total full-time enrollment has dropped from 67,338 to 50,822 students in that time frame. So, while state funding for two-year schools has ticked upwards, enrollment has fallen by approximately 25%.

This signifies a surge in per-student funding for two-year schools.

In the 2010-2011 academic year, community college students were each matched with $6,785 in state appropriations. In 2017-2018, this number had risen to $9,196 per student.

Despite the differing trends between four- and two-year schools, the higher education community as a whole still clearly has one goal in common: to return to the pre-recession apportionment ratio between k-12/other and postsecondary.

Now, higher education only gets approximately 25% of the Education Trust Fund budget. This is significantly down from the 33% share of funding that was par for the course just over a decade ago.

With fall 2019 classes set to start this month across the Yellowhammer State, these data trends could get a closer look from policymakers moving forward.

Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn

• NumbersUSA has released new grades this year for Congress, and U.S. Representative Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) has been ranked #1 for the eighth year straight on border security, which means that Brooks received 100% on his border security record.
• Brooks spoke about the grading, thanking them for “helping the public know which members of Congress fight to protect American lives, property, jobs, and incomes from the current flood of illegal aliens.” This issue is the #1 issue for Americans heading into 2020.

5. Dow drops 767 points

• The uncertain trade war with China and the self-devaluation of Chinese currency spooked the stock market yesterday. The government Chinese yuan fell below its seven-to-one ratio against the dollar in an attempt to soften the blow China is being dealt in a trade war.
• President Donald Trump has already promised even more tariffs against the Chinese. He also declared them to be a “currency manipulator.” China responded by halting plans to buy American agricultural goods, so this is impacting both countries negatively.

4. The school year should be shorter, apparently

• State Representative Steve Hurst (R-Talladega) said that we need to shorten the school year for students in Alabama, reasoning, “We’re not any better than we were years ago academically,” and Hurst argued that if students had longer summers they could get jobs and learn “work ethics, learn some discipline, and earn some money that could help their parents.”
• Hurst said that Alabamians are in favor of longer summers, and a survey conducted by the University of South Alabama showed that 85% of Alabama voters want longer summers.

3. Mooney isn’t happy with Tuberville

• State Representative Arnold Mooney (R-Indian Springs) tweeted about former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville’s recent quote slamming Trump and added that Tuberville is “dead wrong.” He went on to say Trump loves our veterans more than anyone. Mooney ended with saying that “Tuberville owes our President an apology.”
• Tuberville responded to the controversy by foolishly declaring, “Career politicians and Never Trumper’s like Arnie have nothing to run on so they attack others. My point is this: Donald Trump has done more for our Veterans and our military than any President we’ve ever had and he was dealt a big mess by Congress and Obama,” which directly contradicts his previous statement.

2. The media and Democrats are on the attack

• The shooting in El Paso, TX, and Dayton, OH,left 31 people dead, and President Trump has condemned the attacks as he plans to visit El Paso on Wednesday, called out white supremacist terrorism and called on Congress to address these issues in a number of ways, but the Democrats and their media have declared this to be insufficient and are seeking a full-on culture war.
• U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) said that Trump’s statement was a “bulls—t soup of ineffective words…we should quickly condemn his lack of a real plan.” And when former U.S. Representative Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) was asked if Trump was racist, he replied,  “Jesus Christ, of course, he is racist,” making it clear that there is no chance there will be real attempts to come to a consensus and all things will be viewed through a prism of the 2020 election.

1. McConnell to consider bipartisan solutions

• Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) made a statement on Monday and has said that after the shootings in El Paso and Dayton, he’s willing to consider bipartisan solutions, saying that “Senate Republicans are prepared to do our part.”
• McConnell also pointed out during his statement, “Partisan theatrics and campaign-trail rhetoric will only take us further away from the progress all Americans deserve.” McConnell is encouraging the Senate committee leaders to develop a solution that doesn’t infringe on “Americans’ constitutional rights” but will still protect communities.

• Judge Randolph Moss has ruled that President Trump can’t prevent migrants from claiming asylum, even if they cross the U.S. border illegally, despite Moss saying that Trump had shown that the number of migrants coming across the border poses a “particular problem for the national interest.”
• Moss referenced the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) that determined who can apply for asylum. The INA says anyone in the United States can apply for asylum, but Trump’s next immigration policy that is awaiting a court ruling is the “safe third country” deal with Guatemala that requires migrants to apply for asylum in the country they pass through to get to the U.S.

5. Dekalb County school isn’t intimidated

• The Freedom From Religion Foundation claimed that Fyffe High School of Dekalb County Schools was in violation of the separation of church and state because Fyffe had planned a “Back to School Worship Service” for August 4 from 4-6 p.m.
• However, Superintendent Jason Barnett defended the event by saying that the event isn’t sponsored by the school and there was “no administrators or faculty members involved in the organization and planning of the event,” and the event continued as scheduled.

4. Alabama still wants the citizenship question

• Despite President Trump backing-off of putting the citizenship question on the 2020 Census, Alabama is still fighting for the question to be printed on the census.
• U.S. Representative Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) and Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall brought the case against the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Census Bureau, and now U.S. District Judge R. David Proctor has given all those involved until August 19 to file a joint report on what should come next, despite the federal government requesting on July 19 that the case be dismissed.

3. Tuberville owning his carpetbagger label

• Former football coach Tommy Tuberville spoke at the Shoals Republican Club meeting where outside of the venue, someone had posted a printout of the definition of “carpetbagger,” which prompted Tuberville to address the carpetbagger issue that’s been brought against him by his opponents.
• Tuberville’s decided to own the title by saying he’s a “carpetbagger of this country.” He added, “I love this country. I love this state. I’m a carpetbagger. I pay a lot of taxes. I brag about that because I’m fortunate I’ve made a little money in my lifetime. I can do this and not take any money.”

2. Meeting to be held on Mobile Bay bridge toll

• After pressure from State Auditor Jim Zeigler and others, Governor Kay Ivey has called a meeting for Tuesday of the Alabama Toll Road, Bridge and Tunnel Authority members to address questions and concerns about the Mobile River Bridge and Bayway Project.
• In the letter, Ivey wrote that she’s inviting all state and constitutional officers, “at least some who seem to believe there is an easy solution out there if we would just look for it,” which seems to be a shot at Zeigler who has been leading social media efforts against the toll.

1. Two shootings, one weekend — everyone you dislike is to blame

• Over the weekend, two mass shootings took place in the United States, one in El Paso, TX, that killed 20 people, and a shooting in Dayton, OH, that killed 10 people. The El Paso shooting is getting more focus due to the racial motivation behind the shooting and the politics involved.
• U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) tweeted about the shooting in El Paso, where he said that most people will do what they’ve done previously in these situations, which is “go to their corners and talk about guns.” He then stated, “Our failure to protect people is more pronounced today given the early reports of racial motivations behind the shooting in El Paso. Unfortunately, that seems to be the tone that has been set in this country.”

Jackson and Burke are joined by former State Representative Mac Buttram (R-Cullman) to talk charter school issues and more.

Jackson closes the show with a “parting shot” at Democrats who can’t get over the Trump-Russia storyline even after polls show support for impeachment has gone down.

Dale Jackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a talk show from 7-11 am weekdays on WVNN.

• Recently, the Montgomery-based Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) sent out a press release that said “voter fraud” doesn’t exist in Alabama, but Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill wants you to know that’s not true. In an interview with Yellowhammer News, Merrill pointed out specific confirmed cases of voter fraud in Alabama.
• But the deputy legal director of SPLC, Nancy Abudu, has a different theory about voter fraud, and after President Trump tweeted that “We should immediately pass Voter ID,” Abudu responded by saying voter ID laws “create barriers for Black, Latino, low-income, and elderly voters, who are more likely than the general population to lack an acceptable form of identification.” She added that voter fraud is only a myth that undermines the black vote, but the group can not cite a single instance of voter suppression.

5. Trump ready for more tariffs

• President Donald Trump is ready for yet another round of tariffs on Chinese goods if President Xi Jinping does not come to the table for a trade deal that the United States can live with. This could be a real threat or another Trump bluff.
• Trump is no stranger to tariffs and this round would go after $300 billion in Chinese goods, which will include consumer products like smartphones, apparel and toys. This is on top of the previous round of $250 billion in tariffs and will affect all American consumers.

3. Trump rallies and media doesn’t get the chants they want 

• Before President Donald Trump’s rally last night, he spoke to reporters outside the White House on Thursday, where he mentioned that he doesn’t want people to chant “Send her back!” at his campaign rally in Cincinnati, but he doesn’t “know that you can stop people.”
• Even without those chants, the media clutched their pearls over chants of “Lock her up!” that broke out after the president mentioned former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and pointed out the sad state of big cities like San Francisco, New York City, Baltimore and Los Angeles being controlled by Democrats in America.

3. Birmingham police officer stages an attack

• Officer Keith Buchanan is looking at some serious trouble, as he should be, after he made up a distress situation in order to frame himself as a heroic officer, but a police investigation found the entire event to be a “hoax.”
• The officer staged an attack that included gunshots into his vehicle, an attack that left him injured on a railroad track and worried officers rushing to the UAB medical center to check on the allegedly wounded officer. Now, the Birmingham Police Department will pursue suspects in this case, “even when one of those suspects is one of our own.”

2. Senator Jones defends Alabama from his fellow liberals

• U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) is trying to distance himself from New York City after saying that he couldn’t stand to live there because he loves the South, or so he said at book-signing event in Aspen, Colorado, but Jones has been referred to as New York’s third Senator and he’s received $2.8 million in donations from New York since 2017.
• Although, Jones was recently in New York City watching the Broadway adaption of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” and after the play he expressed that he wishes the show would travel so more people around the country could see it so that people would be taught to “treat people with some respect,” but apparently no one has told Jones that “To Kill a Mockingbird” has been taught in schools for years.

1. Senate passes spending deal

• The U.S. Senate has passed a bipartisan budget and debt limit that will increase spending caps and suspend the debt ceiling until July 31, 2021. The bipartisan bill will load up the debt and further send the country towards a debt crisis.
• President Trump tweeted that the spending deal is good for “our Great Military, our Vets, and Jobs, Jobs, Jobs! Two year deal gets up past the election. Go for it Republicans, there is always plenty of time to CUT!”

• The main complaint about the Trump tax cut changes depending on the day. Unfortunately for the media and their Democrats, they may have to shelf the line about wages not growing after the latest economic news.
• Revisions to economic data show that employee compensation has risen much faster than previously reported. It rose 4.5% in 2017, 5.5% in 2018 and increased 3.4% in the first six months of 2019, while personal savings are also up significantly.

5. James Comey may be looking at some serious issues

• New reporting indicates FBI agents went to former FBI Director James Comey’s home because he leaked at least four memos that he hoped would start an investigation against the president. Inspector General Michael Horowitz then referred Comey for possible prosecution, but the DOJ has apparently declined prosecution because of a lack of intent.
• No one expects Comey to face any actual penalties for this, but this will be a major blow to the reputation of the man the media originally was relying on to help build the Trump-Russia narrative that continues to fall flat while also showing no sign of stopping.

4. Does Cummings not want to see that his district actually has issues?

• U.S. Representative Elijah Cummings (D-MD) was invited to tour a Baltimore Housing and Urban Development (HUD) facility with Secretary Ben Carson after President Trump made comments that the city is a “rodent-infested mess,” but Cummings declined the invitation even as video of him calling the city “drug infested” has emerged.
• Trump has said that he will visit Baltimore “at the right time,” but Carson is familiar with the issues in Baltimore and the work that needs to be done. Carson has told Fox News that he’s worked on issues with politicians including childhood education and “improving the life for the people.”

3. You better not allow Christianity in your schools

• DeKalb County Schools superintendent has received a letter from an attorney from the Freedom From Religion Foundation to complain that there isn’t a true separation between church and state in the schools because they’re promoting a “Back to School Worship Service” that’s to be held in the school gym on August 4 from 4-6 p.m.
• The service was advertised on the school’s Facebook page in a post that simply invites people to the worship service, but a “concerned Dekalb County Schools parent” has taken issue with the post and event, saying that promoting the service is unconstitutional. According to Christopher Line on behalf of FFRF, “Dekalb County Schools should be particularly mindful of ostracizing non-Christians, given that over 47 percent of young Americans are non-Christian, either practicing a minority religion or no religion at all.”

2. Alabama Democrats hate Alabama Democrats

• Former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman isn’t impressed with how the Alabama Democratic Party is being run. He said that party Chairwoman Nancy Worley and Alabama Democratic Conference Chairman Joe Reed are to blame, calling the state of the party “pathetic.”
• Siegelman also said that the way he thinks the party should be run and organized the way the Republican Party was in the ’70s and “get rid of Joe Reed’s appointment process, which distorts the Democratic elected members of the committee.”

1. Winners and losers 2.0

• After two days of debates, former Vice President Joe Biden is still clearly the frontrunner as he was able to punch back at all of his adversaries who appear to want to out-liberal each other to their own detriment. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) had a couple of good lines to legitimize his campaign, but President Donald Trump has to feel good about last night because these people aren’t ready for a debate with that guy.
• The big loser of the night was former President Barack Obama, who was under attack all night on health care and illegal immigration. Phony Senator Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY) continues to embarrass herself on the national stage and Kamala Harris couldn’t follow up her first debate performance with an equally impressive performance here.

• It’s yet another blow for the Trump-Russia collusion narrative as U.S. District Judge John Koeltl on Tuesday dismissed the lawsuit brought by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) claiming the Trump campaign and WikiLeaks hacked DNC documents.
• Democrats have attempted to go after President Donald Trump and his campaign for engaging in illegal activity with Russia. Koeltl said that the campaign “did not participate in any wrongdoing in obtaining materials.”

5. Scarlet letter of Alabama

• In Alabama, transgendered people are allowed to change their sex on their driver’s license if they have a letter signed by their doctor that performed reassignment surgery or an amended birth certificate. Three transgender women are trying to change the policy, and on Tuesday U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson heard arguments in the lawsuit.
• The three women represented by the American Civil Liberties Union are arguing that the driver’s license policy violates their equal protection rights and opens them up to “hostility aimed at transgender people,” according to AL.com. Judge Thompson said that “you might as well have a scarlet letter T on your driver’s license,” but a decision will not be made in the case until Thompson goes over written arguments.

4. Who will Alabama Democrats vote for?

• New data has been released from the Federal Election Commission on second-quarter donations for Democratic presidential candidates in Alabama, which shows that U.S. Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) and former Vice President Joe Biden are nearly neck-and-neck with overall donations, but Biden received more than Harris from Alabama voters in the second quarter.
• U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is in third place, where the support in Alabama drops off dramatically, and then trailing in 10th place is U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) with no second quarter donations from Alabama.

3. Doug Jones is a standard Democrat

• A new ad released by the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) is hitting U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) on his statement that no matter what, he’ll support the Democratic nominee in the 2020 presidential election.
• The ad highlights how Jones would be willing to support higher taxes, free health care for illegal immigrants, decriminalizing illegal immigration and doing away with employer-based health care. The ad was released just ahead of the second round of Democratic presidential primary debates.

2. CNN attacks Alabama to “defend” Baltimore

• In a strange interview, CNN’s John Berman tried to take RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel to task for the conditions of Alabama’s 5th congressional district. He tried to imply that it is equally “in distress” as Rep. Elijah Cummings’ (D-MD) district, which no one truly believes.
• Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) responded with a text to Yellowhammer News highlighting the district’s need for more workers for high-paying jobs, new houses for those moving here and help with new roads and schools to handle the population growth.

1. Winner and losers in Democratic debate

• As the first night of CNN’s Democratic Party debate wrapped up, the real winner might have been Donald Trump because Democrats continued their lurch to the left that seems to be irreversible as the leaders continued to promise government-run health care for all, including illegal immigrants. Otherwise, self-help guru Marianne Williamson was the most Googled and quotable candidate. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) kept their top-tier status.
• The main losers from last night’s debate were the moderate Democrats who tried their best to wrestle the party away from the more liberal members, but Warren and Sanders ruled the day.

• Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has spoken out against an absurd Washington Post op-ed that said McConnell is a “Russian asset,” and now McConnell has said that this “modern-day McCarthyism is toxic and damaging.”
• McConnell continued by saying history matters and that our country needs to pay attention to the inability to “debate public policy without screaming about treason.” He noted that McCarthyism hurt America during the Cold War because it drove divisions between ourselves.

5. New polls show Mueller didn’t move the needle

• After the much promoted and awaited Robert Mueller testimony before two congressional panels and cable news audiences was over, nothing much changed in the minds of most Americans.
• As Democrats still haven’t come to grips with these facts and Democrats get ready for the next debate, a new poll shows former Vice President Joe Biden still crushing his opponents with Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Kamala Harris (D-CA) with 12% and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) at 11% bunched up behind him.

4. Feud between talk show host and Tea Party leader

• Montgomery talk show host Baron Coleman and Wetumpka Tea Party leader Becky Gerritson are involved in a war of words that has spilled into a battle that could cost the talk show host his ability to practice law because Coleman referred to Gerritson as a “Big Pharma whore.”
• Gerritson used the leftist playbook when she went after the advertisers of the radio show in an attempt to silence Coleman for being critical of her and her organization, all of which makes her appear to be a thin-skinned political figure.

3. ALDOT responds to criticism of potential toll project in Mobile

• Those against the tolling aspect of the new Mobile Bay bridge project and its six dollar on-way tolls have attracted the attention of the Alabama Department of Transportation who released an email reiterating their commitment to using a toll to fund the project, stating, “Without a toll, the project won’t happen.”
• The “Mythbusters” email further places the blame for tolling on the Trump administration by saying, “The federal infrastructure legislation proposed under the current administration is heavily dependent upon tolling to deliver infrastructure projects around the United States.”

2. Alabama Pre-K is good for kids

• A study conducted by the First Class Pre-K Research Evaluation Team evaluated students that participated in Alabama’s First Class Pre-K program and found that those who took part in the voluntary program were half as likely to have disciplinary issues in the future.
• The study determined that in first grade, First Class Pre-K students were half as likely to be involved in disciplinary issues. It also found that by the time the students were in high school, there was an even greater difference in behavioral issues.

1. Race card being played with reckless abandon

• President Donald Trump followed up his weekend attacks on U.S. Representative Elijah Cummings (D-MD) and Baltimore with attacks on the rat “infested” district with some shots at Al Sharpton for good meausure to stock the media firestorm further.
• Now, a Trump criticism of Sharpton is called racist with Presidential candidates like Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris rushing to renowned anti-Semite Sharpton’s defense, calling him a “champion in the fight for civil rights” and saying Sharpton “has spent his life fighting for what’s right and working to improve our nation.”

• President Trump has announced that National Intelligence Director Dan Coats will be replaced by U.S. Representative John Ratcliffe (R-TX) after months of the president bickering with the intelligence community and Coats regularly damaging his relationship with Trump.
• Trump wrote that he is “pleased to announce that highly respected Congressman John Ratcliffe of Texas will be nominated by me to be the Director of National Intelligence. A former U.S. Attorney, John will lead and inspire greatness for the Country he loves.” He added that Coats will be leaving office on August 15.

5. Pelosi/AOC feud over?

• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortex (D-NY) met behind closed doors where they apparently discussed “working together to meet the needs of our districts and our country, fairness in our economy and diversity in our country,” according to Pelosi.
• Pelosi, again, denied that there was a need to resolve any major issues between her an AOC, once again calling the Democrats in Congress a “family.” Ocasio-Cortez said that “the speaker respects that we’re coming together as a party and that unity, and I’m looking forward to us getting back in September.”

4. Democratic Party is imploding

• U.S. Representative Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville) spoke at a meeting of Alabama Republican Party’s 4^th Congressional District members where he gave an overview on what’s been happening with Democratic Party in Washington, D.C.
• Aderholt said that with the drama “The Squad” has been involved in, the Mueller hearings and investigations and the presidential election, this year has been “surreal.” He added that everything that’s been happening has been “bizarre” and “it’s been fascinating to watch the Democrat Party and how the Democrat Party has been imploding really before our eyes over the last couple of months.”

3. Roby is retiring

• U.S. Representative Martha Roby (R-Montgomery) has announced that she will not seek reelection in 2020, setting off a series of questions about why she is leaving, what it means for 2020 and redistricting after the 2020 Census.
• U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) commended Roby on her service in Congress, saying she’s “done a great job representing AL’s 2^nd Congressional district over the last 8 years. She began as an intern in my office & went on to be instrumental in helping our veterans, bringing the F-35 to Montgomery, & many other significant wins. I wish her all the best.” Many others including Governor Kay Ivey spoke about Roby’s service as well.

2. Mueller testimony wasn’t enough

• Former special counsel Robert Mueller testified before the House Intelligence Committee, but didn’t offer a lot of information that wasn’t already available, however, Democrats are determined to keep the Trump-Russia farce going.
• Now, U.S. Representative Devin Nunes (R-CA) has said that the hearing left “lots of questions, not many answers.” He added that there still isn’t clarity on who the Russians colluded with during the 2016 presidential election, but Democrats are continuing their campaign for impeachment.

1. Looks like we are back to Trump being “racist” again

• President Donald Trump took to Twitter over the weekend to attack U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) and his “disgusting, rat and rodent-infested mess” of a district, which is backed up by tons of reporting. This, of course, is being called “racist,” although no mention of race was made.
• The president insists that there is “nothing racist” in the attacks against Cummings. Trump’s history of attacking everyone, even white people like Hillary Clinton, Bill de Blasio, Mitt Romey, Jeb Bush and Nancy Pelosi, is well known, but that flies in the face of the media and their Democrats’ chosen narrative of casting everything Trump does as nefarious and mean.

State Sen. Donnie Chesteen (R-Geneva) and State Rep. Wes Allen (R-Troy) confirmed to Yellowhammer News on Sunday that they will not seek Alabama’s Second Congressional District seat in the upcoming election cycle.

Chesteen explained that the state senate is where he wants to be serving right now, and Allen advised that he did not want to miss important memories back at home with two children currently in high school.

However, two of their colleagues are seriously considering a run.

State Sen. Clyde Chambliss (R-Prattville) and freshman State Rep. Will Dismukes (R-Prattville) are both taking a close look at the race. One key factor to consider here is that their bases, with Chambliss’ being slightly larger, mostly overlap geographically.

Dismukes would look to run as an outsider, but, somewhat ironically, one of his biggest selling points could be the seniority he could go on to accumulate in Congress, as he has not yet turned 30. He could put in a solid amount of personal money to kickstart his potential campaign, however Dismukes would still have a large way to go in name identification.

Chambliss was first elected to the Alabama Senate in 2014, having previously served on the Autauga County Commission. A civil engineer, he championed two hot-button pieces of legislation in the chamber just this past spring alone: the Rebuild Alabama Act and the Human Life Protection Act. Chambliss would also have a long way to go with name identification.

Additionally, three officeholders from the past are thinking about running: former attorney general Troy King of Montgomery and former state representatives Barry Moore of Enterprise and Perry Hooper, Jr. of Montgomery.

King, out of the potential candidates mentioned in this article, would certainly have the most name identification. However, his unfavorable numbers are also the highest by far, potentially giving him a low ceiling.

Moore, garnering 19.3% of the vote, finished third in the Second Congressional District’s 2018 GOP primary behind Roby and former U.S. Rep. Bobby Bright (R-Montgomery).

Another candidate who has prominently run against Roby in the past is also considering running.

Wetumpka Tea Party founder and current Eagle Forum of Alabama executive director Becky Gerritson is looking at a 2020 bid for the seat she ran for in 2016. She could enjoy unique grassroots support in the district’s river region.

Finally, a different sort of outsider is weighing a candidacy in Jeff Coleman of Midland City.

Coleman, a prominent Yellowhammer State CEO who has built a successful business career with moving conglomerate Coleman World Group, could invest personal money in the race, which would be needed to increase his name identification. He is a past chairman of the Business Council of Alabama (BCA), current vice chairman of the Alabama Trucking Association and current Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army — a position that affords him unique experience with Fort Rucker, which is integral to the district.

Coleman is “prayerfully considering” a run. Sources familiar tell Yellowhammer News that he was previously approached to run for the U.S. Senate, a possibility Yellowhammer News wrote about in the fall of 2018.

That being said, it has only been two days since this seat surprisingly became in play. The Alabama political landscape can change in a heartbeat, just as this potential field could.

Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn

Jackson and Burke are joined by State Senator Tom Butler (R-Madison) to discuss tolls, the FAIR Tax and campaign strategy and more.

Jackson closes the show with a “parting shot” at Sen. Doug Jones (D-AL), who can act like an adult and call for Democrats to move on from these absurd three-year-old Russian collusion claims.

Dale Jackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a talk show from 7-11 am weekdays on WVNN.

• Ryan Magers, a father of an aborted embryo he didn’t want to be aborted, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the abortion clinic. A judge is deciding whether or not to dismiss the lawsuit after hearing arguments from Magers on Wednesday.
• Lawyers for the Alabama Women’s Center, the clinic where the abortion was performed, have said that there was no wrongful death since abortion is legal, but Alabama also recognizes unborn babies as people in the state of Alabama.

5. Voter suppression is very ineffective in Alabama

• According to Secretary of State John Merrill, there are now 3.5 million registered voters in Alabama, an increase of 1,301,012 since January 19, 2015.
• The 3.5 million also accounts for the almost 800,000 voters who were recently removed from the voter rolls due to ineligibility. Merrill’s office said that in Alabama, 91% of eligible voters are registered, 96% of eligible black voters are registered and 94% of eligible Alabamians are registered.

4. Doug Jones has a totally unique idea

• During a conference call, U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) was asked about Medicaid expansion. He said if Medicaid expansion happened, 300,000 people in Alabama would benefit, and he claimed that because those people would get “good health care,” it would save money in the long run.
• Jones went on to confuse economic incentives for business development with government spending, a common Alabama Democrat problem, and pushed the Medicaid expansion that has been rallied for by every losing statewide Democratic candidate for the last decade.

3. Phony tough guy Joe Biden in the lead

• Fox News has released a poll that shows former Vice President Joe Biden is still the front runner in the 2020 presidential election for Democrats. He is reportedly ready to come out swinging in the next debate.
• Another poll shows Biden beating Trump in Ohio by a 50-42 margin, but Quinnipiac University shows other major Democratic candidates virtually tied with the president, which further makes Biden’s electability argument.

2. Byrne wants to crack down on illegal immigrants in sanctuary cities

• After visiting the southern border, U.S. Representative Bradley Byrne (R-Fairhope) has joined U.S. Representative Ted Budd (R-NC) to introduce legislation, Justice for Victims of Sanctuary Cities Act, which would “give American victims the right to sue sanctuary cities and hold them accountable for the thousands of lives they have shattered,” according to President Donald Trump.
• Byrne said that the legislation will give justice to the victims, but it will also “push communities to abandon their reckless sanctuary policies that help disincentivizes illegal immigration.”

1. Ivey weighs in on Mobile Bay bridge

• Alabama Governor Kay Ivey commented on project generating headlines and concerns about a toll bridge, without commenting on the actual tolls, saying, “‘We must continue working together to creatively find solutions.”
• Meanwhile, State Sen. Tom Butler (R-Madison) attended a meeting of the Joint Transportation Committee and relayed that Alabama Department of Transportation head John Cooper said that he is still very committed to this toll project and further toll projects on costly transportation agenda items in the future.